Despite the efforts of other manufacturers, Apple and Samsung remain the biggest competitors in the smartphone market, so their flagships are interesting to compare with each other. And if the choice between the Android and iOS platforms is increasingly reduced to user preferences, then everything is much clearer with cameras. Therefore, today we will compare the photography capabilities of iPhone 14 Pro Max and Galaxy S22 Ultra, top models from Apple and Samsung. But first, let’s recall the characteristics of the cameras in both models.
What the iPhone 14 Pro Max cameras offer:
- 48-megapixel wide-angle, aperture f/1.78, focal length 24 mm, sensor size 1/1.28″, the second generation of stabilization on the Sensor-shift sensor;
- 12-megapixel ultra-wide-angle, f/2.2, 13 mm focal length and 120° viewing angle, electronic stabilization;
- 12-megapixel telephoto, f/2.8, 77 mm, optical stabilization system and 3x optical zoom.
What the Galaxy S22 Ultra cameras offer:
- 108-megapixel wide-angle, aperture f/1.8, focal length 23 mm, sensor size 1/1.33″, phase and laser autofocus, optical stabilization;
- 12 megapixel ultra-wide-angle, f/2.2, focal length 13 mm, viewing angle 120°, electronic stabilization;
- 10-megapixel telephoto, f/2.4, 70mm, 1/3.52″, dual-phase autofocus, optical stabilization, 3x optical zoom;
- 10-megapixel periscopic telephoto, f/4.9, 230 mm, 1/3.52″, dual-phase autofocus, optical stabilization, 10x optical zoom.
As you can see, the flagship Galaxy S22 Ultra offers one more camera module with 10x optical zoom, while the iPhone 14 Pro Max can also take photos with 10x zoom, but uses hybrid zoom for this.
Let’s figure out what both smartphones can offer in different photo modes. And let’s start with the main wide-angle camera in good lighting conditions.
Primary iPhone 14 Pro Max wide-angle camera vs. Galaxy S22 Ultra in daytime (click on images to open in higher quality):
As should be the case with modern flagships, both models do well with photos in good light, but the larger sensor size and higher resolution allow the Galaxy S22 Ultra to deliver higher detail with less noise.
Primary iPhone 14 Pro Max wide-angle camera vs. Galaxy S22 Ultra at night:
When shooting at night, it is more difficult to say which camera is better. Like all modern models, both smartphones rely heavily on post-processing and sometimes abuse it too much. The iPhone 14 Pro Max camera in general uses algorithms more aggressively to extract more details from the picture, and in my opinion, because of this, it loses in realism. The Galaxy S22 Ultra, when it doesn’t miss the focus, gives good detail, but mainly tries to add more light to the photo, even if you shoot a lit object.
iPhone 14 Pro Max ultra-wide camera vs. Galaxy S22 Ultra in daytime:
The ultra-wide-angle cameras in the iPhone 14 Pro Max and the Galaxy S22 Ultra share the same specs and offer a similar level of detail and dynamic range. By default, they have a slightly different color rendering, but even this can be adjusted in the camera settings.
iPhone 14 Pro Max ultra-wide camera vs. Galaxy S22 Ultra at night:
Both ultra-wide-angle cameras support night shooting mode, but due to the smaller aperture and lack of optical stabilization, the photos are not of very high quality.
3x telephoto camera iPhone 14 Pro Max vs. Galaxy S22 Ultra in daytime:
The 10-megapixel telephoto cameras of both smartphones take generally very similar quality pictures in daylight, except that some objects on the iPhone 14 Pro Max are sharper thanks to the smaller aperture than on the Galaxy S22 Ultra’s camera.
3x telephoto camera iPhone 14 Pro Max vs. Galaxy S22 Ultra at night:
Unfortunately, when shooting at night with 3x zoom, the Galaxy S22 Ultra does not take advantage of its larger aperture and does not try to apply night mode for the telephoto camera, but simply crops from the main 108-megapixel module. In this regard, iPhone 14 Pro Max gives the user more freedom.
10x shot of iPhone 14 Pro Max vs. Galaxy S22 Ultra at night:
The iPhone 14 Pro Max does not have a periscopic telephoto camera, so when shooting from 10x and above, the Galaxy S22 Ultra downs the opponent.
In conclusion
As you can see, both smartphones provide quite wide opportunities for photos and in many respects have equaled in terms of quality. I will leave you the opportunity to determine in the comments which scenario is more important to you and which model shoots better in it. I will only note that against the background of the newer iPhone 14 Pro Max, Samsung’s flagship, which is due to be replaced in 4 months, shows itself very well. Not least due to the high resolution of the main sensor. Considering that the Galaxy S23 Ultra will most likely get a 200-megapixel module, it can be assumed that Apple will not stop at a 48-megapixel camera either. A new “megapixel war” is probably waiting for us.
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